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BEST LOCAL MUSICIAN TO LEAVE TOWN

Lee Williams

BEST LOCAL MUSICIAN TO LEAVE TOWN Lee Williams Sleek funkateer, former New Times columnist, and inveterate letter-writer Lee Williams has moved to New York City to ply his jazz-inflected rap stylings in a town he deems more hospitable to his musical talents. And given Miami's strict hip-hop division into either Pitbull-style shouters and club-shakers or mind-numbingly obtuse "indie" MCs, Williams's presence on the microphone -- erudite yet playful, and always dripping with laid-back sex appeal -- will continue to be sorely missed.

BEST LOCAL ELECTRONICA ARTIST

The Waterford Landing

BEST LOCAL ELECTRONICA ARTIST The Waterford Landing Fronted by unassuming composer/keyboard player/droll singer/arbitrator Alex Caso, the Waterford Landing is actually a democratic trio, with Caso joined by scene veterans Richard Rippe (electric bass, synthesizers) and Ed Matus (electric guitar, synthesizers, vocals) to channel shoegazer and New Wave to the suburbs. Formed in 1997, the Landing has plenty of devoted local followers, many of whom have become friends as well as fans. This past year the trio released an eponymous debut album that is truly an album -- listenable all the way through, with the dazzling "The Girls of Saga Bay" becoming an Internet and WVUM-FM (90.5) regular. Drawing inspiration from sources as diverse as Ultravox and the Magnetic Fields, the men of Waterford infuse their pop with moments of psychedelia and experimentation but also with the kind of shimmering languor possible only for those immersed in Miami's somnolent (truly) alternative music culture as well as the environment here in general. "We all have day jobs," Caso admits of the hep threesome. "I may seem like the mayor of the band, but in fact we are all equal and integral parts of this project. It is somewhat of a power trio."

Readers´ Choice: Otto Von Schirach

BEST LOCAL SONGWRITER

Sam Beam

BEST LOCAL SONGWRITER Sam Beam www.ironandwine.com Under the pseudonym Iron & Wine, Sam Beam has garnered positive notices in magazines and newspapers around the world. His plaintive, modest recordings (including this year's Woman King EP), which possess a rustic sonic quality that makes them seem like they were created a half-century ago, have made him a leader in the international folk-rock renaissance alongside Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, and a few others. The catalyst for the attention is the strength of his lyrics. "There are sailing ships that pass all our bodies in the grass/Springtime calls her children until she lets them go at last," he sings on one single, "Passing Afternoon." These words are delivered by a voice that is wispy and haunting, reverberating long after the CD has ended.

BEST LOCAL ACOUSTIC PERFORMER

Jim Camacho

BEST LOCAL ACOUSTIC PERFORMER Jim Camacho Although he's years removed from major-label status (via his now-defunct band the Goods), Jim Camacho is still an ambitious performer. This past fall he released an independent album, Stalker Songs, that was beautifully packaged with a series of postcards designed by Charlie Calderin and himself, illustrating each of its fifteen songs. He mounted Fools' Paradise: A Musical of Love and War, a play set during World War II and costarring local rockers such as Derek Cintron (DC-3) and Ferny Coipel (Humbert). But Camacho is at his best when he's onstage alone. From illuminating his own tracks (which you can hear at www.myspace.com/jimcamacho) with sharp, raspy melodies to interpreting songs by the Beatles, Jim Camacho has a knack for producing indelible live performances with nothing but an acoustic guitar and his voice.

BEST LOCAL LATIN BAND

Locos por Juana

BEST LOCAL LATIN BAND Locos por Juana www.locosporjuana.net The nine-member collective known as Locos por Juana, which recently released its second album, Música pa'l Pueblo, isn't a typical Latin band. The players have a strong pop sensibility, mixing salsa, timba, ska, reggae, and merengue beats into an accessible but high-spirited blend. The result can be exotic and wildly unpredictable, a nonstop party sound that shifts moods by the minute. Locos por Juana's live show is even crazier -- nine guys on a small stage (joined by frequent musical guests) dancing around and rocking about, jumping and jamming until the audience can't help but share in the fun.

BEST LOCAL JAZZ ARTIST

José Negroni

BEST LOCAL JAZZ ARTIST José Negroni After teaching for seventeen years at the prestigious Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, pianist José Negroni moved to Miami. In 2003 his trio released its first CD, Naturaleza/Nature, followed last year with Piano-Drums-Bass (both on Universal Latino). As part of a new wave of Puerto Rican musicians whose music goes beyond traditional salsa forms, Negroni and his band, which includes his equally virtuosic son Nomar on drums, combine a hard postbop style and a lyrical classicism with their Latin roots. It's a little Chucho Valdes with a bit of Chick Corea. And while Negroni's music has been gathering critical acclaim on a national scale, he can still be heard pounding the keys at local jazz joints like Van Dyke Café.

Readers´ Choice: Nestor Torres

BEST LOUNGE ACT

Rose Max

BEST LOUNGE ACT Rose Max Brazilian chanteuse Rose Max has been around for years, singing in clubs like Van Dyke Café and Jazid and frequently backed by the Don Wilner Quartet. The product of a long line of Rio de Janeiro musicians, Max moved to Miami twelve years ago, slowly becoming a familiar and welcome presence in the all too tiny local jazz scene. Her performances are perfect for chilling in a South Beach lounge while nursing a potent caipirinha. Max somehow manages to exude both vivacity and an easy earthiness in a wide range of styles, including bossa nova and samba.

BEST LOCAL RECORD LABEL

Schematic

BEST LOCAL RECORD LABEL Schematic www.schematic.net Romulo del Castillo and Josh Kay operate Schematic out of a warehouse space in Little Haiti, issuing a variety of experimental electronic-music albums that veer from vaguely danceable beats to astringent, arrhythmic noise. Since its inception in 1996 Schematic has matured into a fine imprint, and 2004 was its most productive year. Among the seven full-length albums it issued were Finesse and Runway's self-titled exercise in electroclash; Secret Frequency Crew's haunting and brilliant IDM adventure Forest of the Echo Downs; and Otto von Schirach's latest splatter-punk symphony Global Speaker Fisting. These titles sold in the low thousands. While Schematic will probably never achieve major-label success, it more than makes up for it with artistic integrity.

BEST NEW MUSIC TREND

Dance rock

BEST NEW MUSIC TREND Dance rock Okay, like most trends that blow up in Miami, this one isn't necessarily new. DJs at downtown nightclubs such as Soho Lounge and I/O have been mashing together tracks by rock bands such as LCD Soundsystem, electro artists such as Miss Kittin, and even uptempo hip-hop cuts by Outkast for well over a year now. Eventually popular SoBe DJs such as Mark Leventhal began doing the same thing, mixing AC/DC and Nirvana with Prince, the J. Geils Band, and the Strokes. Some jocks are better at blending genres than others; it doesn't take much talent to play the same stuff you can hear on classic-rock radio. But give this fad credit for inspiring people to expand their minds beyond hip-hop and progressive house.

SECOND BEST CONCERT OF THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS

Wilco at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater

SECOND BEST CONCERT OF THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS Wilco at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater It was difficult to tell who was more perplexed by the size and passion of Wilco's crowd: the band's singer Jeff Tweedy or the Pompano Beach Amphitheater's security guards, who spent the early part of the evening shooing audience members away from the stage and back to their seats. Finally, with obvious bemusement, Tweedy urged his screaming fans to "come on down," Let's Make a Deal-style, and the 2500-strong crowd did just that, surging up out of their chairs and past the now-helpless half-dozen guards, creating an instant general-admission concert. Wilco has had that kind of effect on listeners these days, and based on that night's performance, it's not hard to see why the band has moved far beyond its cult following. What was once a solid alt-country outfit has grown into a purveyor of sublime pop, albeit one whose sing-along choruses are filled with paeans to clueless theologians, collapsing buildings, and guilt-laden drug deals. As for those Beatles-esque melodies, they're similarly filled with a cockeyed spirit, one apt to erupt into a speaker-shredding guitar solo that threatens to derail the entire song. Likewise, while Tweedy himself never shies from reaching for that perfect note, his voice is prone to cracking along the way, aching satisfyingly. The Wilco guys certainly remain dark-horse candidates for rock and roll stardom, but it's that very off-kilter sensibility that makes their music so memorable.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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